PG&E Takes Out Full-Page Ad

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and its parent corporation have taken out a full-page newspaper ad to refute charges of illegal transactions between the two.

Last week, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the parent corporation, claiming it siphoned more than $4.5 billion from PG&E and then illegally drove it into bankruptcy.

The unfair business practices suit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court. It paints a sinister image of PG&E Corp., a holding company formed five years ago as part of California's deregulated electricity market.

The ad, which appeared in more than a dozen California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle, as well as the Wall Steet Journal's Web site, denies wrongdoing and says all transactions were legal.

"We want people to know the facts, to know our view on the lawsuit and the motivation behind it," said Brian Hertzog, a spokesman for PG&E Corp.

The ad claims the attorney general filed the suit in an attempt to derail the bankruptcy proceedings.

"Basically, PG&E says you deserve the truth, that's why the attorney general filed the lawsuit against PG&E Corp.," said Sandra Michioku, a Lockyer spokeswoman.